Dramatis Personae
by Mi
Summary: The Marauders vs. the Slytherins! While everyone else parties happily away on the Yule Ball - Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, James Potter and Sirius Black have a hell of a night not being quite themselves. Fun, Love, Mayhem, Confusion!!!
1. Prologues

Author Notes:

This is my second attempt on writing fanfic. And behold - it's getting longer, and longer ... well, it's not finished yet.

As always, neither Severus nor James nor any of the past or present Hogwarts staff and students belong to me. They are J.K. Rowling's! Except for Prof. Keele, who still belongs to Rabbit & v-Jinx-v. 

And of course, my love goes to yap, for beta-reading and all the other creative input she forced upon me - with good intention, really!

So enjoy!

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Dramatis Personae

Prologues

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"Two households both alike in dignity

In fair Hogwarts, where we lay our scene..."

Severus' tantrum

Slytherin tower: sixth-years' dormitory, Yule Ball evening:

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, noooo!!! That's not what you said! You said _I_ could be Black. Now look at me! It's your fault."

"No, it's not."

"_You_ gave me that hair and said it was one of his."

"So?"

"So - you did it on purpose!"

"Don`t be silly! Here, take the glasses."

"I can't see anything."

"Stop being such a baby for God's sake. Stop whining!" 

"I'm - not - whining!"

"By the way, your potion tasted like crap. Couldn't you have made it - better?"

"It's not supposed to taste good! And I'm not supposed to be _him_."

"Okay, assume I'm sorry! Now quit it, or I'll have Crabbe and Goyle break you a finger or two."

"Hah!"

"Or burn your books!"

"..."

"Good. Let's go."

"..."

"Severus, I mean it! Come on!"

"I'm not going like this."

"You scared, Potter?"

"Say that again, _Lucius_, and I'm going to kill you, I swear!"

"Ah well ... I'll buy you this new cauldron you keep babbling about - "

" - and some new phoenix feathers, big size!"

"Aaa'right .... Now: Let's. Go." 

__

"I just can't wait." 

James' tantrum

Gryffindor tower: sixth-years' bathroom, the same night:

"Why did I have to become _him_?"

"Because _I_ didn't want to."

" ... you always do that."

"Do what?"

"Forget it."

"Don`t snap - be Snape!"

"Ha, ha, ha."

"It's only fair that _I'm_ going to be Malfoy. It was _me_ who spied out their plans for tonight."

"Are you sure they don't know we took the Polyjuice Potion too?"

"They have no idea! We'll catch them by surprise, and make them look like the blockheads they are."

"I still think we should have told the others. Lily was put off big time that I'm not going to the dance with her. It was meant to be - you know - _special_."

"Oh please, don't blush again. I can't believe you haven't kissed her yet."

"Just because you make a sport of it doesn't mean ..."

"Yeah aw'righ, gimme a break, will you? - Here take the grease."

"..."

"Just do it, okay? I'm sure they don't make such a fuss about being us." 

"That would be because we're such good-looking guys?"

"Of course! Black and Potter, the Handsome Hogwarts Hotshots!"

"..."

"Good boy! Let's go!"

"And how I'm looking forward to this."

***

Lucius' plan was quite simple: While everybody should be busy with dancing and having fun, Severus and he would pose as Potter and Black, find out where the Marauders kept their invisibility cloak, and then - acquire it. 

Potter's gang had made Lucius and the others look like bloody fools on several occasions with that damn thing. At first, nobody knew how they were doing it: spying out their secret plans, appearing out of nowhere, spoiling their best pranks, and disappearing into nowhere again. But two weeks ago, Severus had found out about the cloak, and Lucius became deadly serious about stealing it. 

The Yule Ball was considered the perfect set-up. Crabbe and Goyle were ordered to keep an eye on Black and Potter and, if necessary, keep them distracted - by all possible means. But Lucius was sure that the two Marauders would be rather _entangled_ on a night like this. Whereas Lupin, on the other hand, would be alone. They just had to play their roles and make him talk. 

That was the plan - in theory. As it were, they'd barely made it out of their own house ...

"Move, move, move, move," cried Lucius. 

He and Severus had just started climbing a staircase on their way to Gryffindor tower, when the stairs shifted. Lucius was already one staircase further up, but Severus' robe got stuck in the railing. "Don`t pull, I'm going to fall over! Look out!" There was a nasty, ripping sound, a lenghty scream, and the breaking of glass, as Severus fell down several steps. 

"That's just great," Lucius muttered to himself, then louder: "Hey, you still alive?"

"I'm fine," came the distant but clearly snapped reply. "Why did you have to grab - "

"Just meet me at Gryffindor com ... ," Lucius started, but gave up when he realised that both staircases were already out of sight of each other. When they stopped moving, both boys found themselves on different floors in opposite directions in different corners of the school. 


	2. First Contact & First Aid

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"Her eye discourses. ... 'Tis not to me she speaks."

First Contact

__

Severus' mood was getting worse with every second. Tripping and falling over was something that happened to other people, for Christ's sake. This whole scenario made him clearly lose his dignity. His robe was ragged, his nose hurting and his hair was a mess. Well, at least Potter had to put up with the hair-part all the time. 

"James?"

He spun around and the words were out before he could stop them: "WHAT IS IT NOW!" Cursing himself quietly, he could see her eyes narrowing. Green eyes, he noticed, quickly picking up his broken glasses. "Lily, it's you! I ... I didn't see you, my glasses are broken. Malfoy, that stupid git, pushed me down the stairs, and ... I'm sorry, I thought you were one of his ... sorry ... I think he broke my nose too."

She smiled. Not a friendly smile, but no doubt she was concerned. Severus knew he was good at pretending. Although he despised it, acting sometimes came in handy - but he would never make a habit out of it.

"Your nose isn't broken, it looks fine." She sounded irritated, he observed. As if they'd had a fight recently. "So, this is your _'urgent business'_ for tonight, getting kicked around by Lucius Malfoy? Where's Sirius? Throwing Snape out of a window?" 

"What business?" Severus replied innocently, although he could make a pretty good guess. If Potter and Black had plans for tonight ... damn, damn, DAMN.

"Look, I don't have time for this," Lily said coldly. "I don`t care what you and Sirus are _doing_. I have to catch up with Remus." She turned to go, and Severus took the opportunity. "That's brilliant!" 

"What?" 

"Lily, this is very important," he said in his sternest voice. "Sirus and I ... Malfoy and the others are going to ... hurt Remus," he improvised, gambling on the Marauders' protectivness towards each other. Which, in Severus' opinion, was rather pathetic. Their weakest point for sure.

"Hurt Remus?" She looked worried. Good!

"They're going to let him drink some sort of Prolonging Potion. So next time he turns into his wolf form he won't be able to transform back for a full week." 

"Oh God. Did _Snape_ came up with such a horrid idea?" Lily sounded disgusted. Actually Severus _had_ once thought about using a Prolonging Potion on Lupin, but given up on it. It would have cost him at least 200 points, and Keele wouldn't allow him potion making for the rest of the year. Not that he cared about rule breaking, but there were such things as priorities. He'd stored the potion in his trunk - just in case.

"So," he went on, "you go to the ball with Remus and keep him from drinking anything funny, and Sirus and I will deal with the Slytherins. But don't tell him what's going on! I don't want Remus scared to death every time he drinks or eats something." 

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"..."

"It was Sirius' idea, wasn't it?"

Severus took a deep breath and nodded in agreement. This was almost too easy. Then he looked into her eyes, trying not to think about green again. "Would you like to see me after the ball? I would like to make it up to you." He put that unimaginatively sweet tone in his voice, the one which Potter always used while talking to Lily Evans. How could she possibly not hate being baby-talked to like this? 

She hesitated, but gave in far too easy for Severus' liking. "Yes, I would like to." And with an amused look she advanced on him with her wand, pointing it at his face. "_Oculis reparo_! That's better, isn't it?" Severus hardly managed to stand his ground. She was a bit too close for comfort. "I'll go and change before meeting Remus. And if I see Snape on the way, I'll give him a curse he won't forget in a hurry." There. That was the spirit _he_ favoured.

Suddenly she ran her hand through Severus' hair. He took a hasty step backwards and tripped over his ragged robe. He fell hard, blushing deep red. Trying to pull himself together he closed his eyes, shutting out her face and the laughter. Only - she didn't. He looked up at her and she simply gave him her hand. Severus took it automatically and was helped up. 

"James, could you promise me something? Please, try and stay in one piece!"

"I - promise."

"Then I see you after the ball." And with that, she walked away, leaving behind one _slightly_ confused Severus Snape. 

First Aid

Sirius' plan was even simpler than Lucius'. He just wanted to give their archnemesises a really bad time: lose points from Slytherin, offend some of their friends, devastate their dormitories, and do some spells on the furniture. Sirius was thrilled by the prospect of Snape chasing his belongings around. Perhaps some of his pants would make it into the Great Hall, and attack the teachers. 

"Why are you smirking?" James asked uneasily. "Whatever is on your mind - forget it! Let's just find them and ..." 

"And what?" Sirius snapped. "Say boo? Ask them for a dance? Think about it. We can damage their reputations _forever_! Snape is going to - " 

"WATCH OUT!"

Sirius looked up and saw some furry, squeaking thing coming at him out of mid-air, raising enough speed for a Quaffle. "CATCH IT!" James cried again. Quidditch-instincts kicking in, Sirius flung out his arms and a tabby cat landed on them. The impact brought him down, cat pressed against his chest.

"Miaooow!"

"Now, where did you come from, kitty?" James was already patting the tabby's head, while Sirius was knocked out of breath. "_Bad_ kitty," he barely managed.

"Well done, Master Malfoy, and a very good move. Good yelling too, Master Snape." A voice like cracking ice rolled over them. Professor Keele, Head of Slytherin House, was approaching the hapless Marauders. Sirius stared at her cold blue eyes. "Hgng..." This wasn't a very good reply, but - he was being Malfoy after all. "That's 50 points each, for saving the life of this _innocent_ and rather _helpless_ creature." The boys were stunned. The cat, on the other hand, seemed to be inspecting Keele's jugular vein with unhealthy interest and indignancy - if that sort of expression was possible for a mere cat.

Sirius was still fumbling for words when suddenly and with much noise-making, Professor Flitwick came bouncing around the corner. "I'm soo sorry, Victoria," he stuttered, "I must have lost my concentration ... never meant to levitate her so high ... but that speed was enormous ... did you see her rushing down?"

"Yes I _did_!" If Flitwick had been drunk, her voice certainly sobered him up. "Maybe you had too much of that butterbeer already, Filius. I recommend you retire to your quarters now, man! - And, Master Malfoy. The Quidditch team needs a new keeper. I will put you on the list. Now, don't let me detain you any further!"

There was clearly no way to argue. And what should they say anyway? 'Sorry, Professor Keele. Can you just _not_ give us points?' Without further delay, Keele took the cat from Sirius and went in the direction of the staff room. A slightly swaying Professor Flitwick managed to follow her.They stared after them. James with a bemused smile, Sirius with a shocked mixture of disbelieve and rage.

"Well, wasn't that a promising start?" James couldn't hide his - in Sirius' opinion - misplaced amusement any longer. "I can't believe we just earned Slytherin 100 points! Weren't we supposed to _lose_ them?" But before Sirius could state _his_ opinion, they could hear Keele's voice around the corner. "Are you hurt Minerva? ... How old _is_ he? 60? ... Yes, you are absolutely right! ... You shouldn't think ... men ... imbeciles ...!" James and Sirius exchanged looks of unhidden astonishment. "What was that all about, anyway?"

"Let's not talk about this anymore, okay?", Sirius growled, "I mean - _Malfoy_ a _keeper_. Can you imagine that? He wouldn't last five seconds before I'd knock him off his broomstick. Did you see Keele smiling? She actually likes that freak. I mean - 50! Points! Each! McGonagall would _never_ have given us, I mean _us_, so many points. Keele always favours her bricky little students, that's so ... I mean - He's not a Keeper bloody hell." He shot James a deadly look, which, combined with Lucius' face, was almost as frightening as Keele's glare. "_I_ didn't say anything!"

"Malfoy will pay for this - extra credit!" 

"Let's see, you will beat him up because _you_ saved a poor cat's life? That's one Gryffindor spirit you've got there!"

"..."

"What?"

"Can you just keep up - _please_!" And with that he sped up his pace, as though he was about to run after Keele, fetch that stupid cat out of her arms and choke it to death. James trotted after him, feeling somewhat left behind.


	3. First Thought & First Victory

A/N:

Hi there, back again!

Hope you liked it so far. You might notice that people start to get more and more neurotic in the following chapters. Well, that's one of the side effects of being someone else, and it was fun to write!

So, on with the show ...

P.S.: I know everyone says that, but: I really love reviews! J 

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"Part, fools, put up your swords, you know not what you do."

First Thought

Remus was on his way to the Great Hall when he heard someone scream. 'Sirius!' was his first thought. He couldn't put a finger on it, but he was always vaguely concerned about Sirius. Well, on second thoughts, he knew exactly why he had these worries all the time. His friend had a misguided talent to get himself into trouble every time Remus turned his back on him. "And they lock _me_ up on full moons", he said to no one in particular. Then he started running. 

Remus found his friend standing in front of the portrait hole. He was slamming his fist against the Fat Lady with grim determination, a litany of supposedly possible passwords flowing rapidly out of his mouth.

"What are you ... are you crazy? Stop that!" Remus raised his voice, and the other boy spun around with a shriek. Remus took Sirius' arm to calm him down. "Don't touch me Lupin!" Sirius' voice was a bit too shrill to be ignored. "Oh, awright. Just calm down, will you!" Remus let go of him, stepping back. 

Lucius' thoughts were racing. He'd expected Severus to show up, not that lunatic Lupin. Perhaps he shouldn't have made such a noise about the password. But - he could still save the situation. They had planned to question Lupin anyway. Better get started then! "Oh, Remus, my old friend, it is you! I must confess to you that I have forgotten our password - oh dear. Bloody hell." 'This isn't so difficult after all', Lucius thought. 'And Severus said I'm a bad actor!'

"Aahhhmm ... so ... are you alright, Sirius?" Remus could smell there was something wrong. He took a few steps forward again, reaching out to his friend. This time Sirius didn't back away, just gave him an odd look. "FLIBBERTIGIBBET!" said Remus and they entered the Gryffindor common room. 

Inside, Lucius flung himself on a nearby couch with a dramatic gesture, overdoing a bit on the Relaxed act. The room was empty and he was ready to play his part. "I am feeling fine, take my word for it. Can we talk about something else now - please?" 

Remus didn't know what to make of this. Although Lily was waiting for him, he couldn't leave his friend in a state like this. "Come on now, what is it?"

"As for _something else_: I wanted speak about, you know, the thing we are hiding -"

"So, you _did _come up with something for our next _rendezvous_ in the Shrieking Shack? The chains aren't holding much longer, I seem to put too much pressure on them." Lucius turned deadly pale in an instant. "Is James coming too?" Remus continued, completely oblivious to the fact that Lucius' face was now converting to a sickening green. "We could use one more hand to -" There was a gurgling sound. "SIRIUS", Remus shouted. "Are you going to throw up? Shall I help you to the bathroom?".

"Nooo!" Lucius got up, hauled himself through the portrait hole and was out before Lupin could get a chance to put his filthy arms around him again.

Remus stood calmly in the middle of the room. He wasn't sure of much in his life but one thing was absolutely clear: Sirius Black was going to get himself in _really bad_ trouble some time soon. 

First Victory

Severus was pretty much sure that Black and Potter had found out about the Polyjuice Potion. And if they had taken it too, this whole freakshow was going to be like Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, only without the kissing in the end. Detention and broken noses - that's what they would get, at least. He should never have participated in this kindergarten play anyway. This was Marauder-style! Running around in _costumes_, playing hide and seek with hotheads acting like first-years. He was a Slytherin! - and he should be allowed to scheme like a Slytherin, with profound planning and cleverness. But Lucius thought that to beat a Marauder, they had to act like a Marauder. That was so darn stupid! This would only lead to underestimating the enemy. Sure Potter _was_ a sissy, but Black had made it all too clear last year what business _he_ meant. And Severus would never forget that. But Lucius kept him on a short leash with this, and Severus was going to lose his temper any time soon. The encounter with Lily Evans was horrible enough to - 

"Severus! Where have you been? Why did you leave me alone?" Lucius nearly ran him over, his voice like screeching chalk in Severus' head. And that did it. 

"Be quiet!" Severus threw himself up to his full height - but didn't manage his usual towering over Lucius because bloody Potter wasn't as tall as him! "You are making too much noise. Filch will kill you. Or - I - will. And call me _James_! Haven't heard of the word 'undercover', have you?" He didn't reach the appropriate degree of menace, Potter's voice was way too soft to sound even slightly threatening. 

"He took my ... he was telling me to ... he said ... I should!" While Lucius was trying to work things out, Severus made some calculations about Lucius' mental stability. The results were not promising. 

"Who? What? Speak in full sentences - I'm running out of patience." Two minutes later, Lucius had told him everything, and Severus' mood shot up from pitch black to almost happy. He knew what Lupin must have talked about. But even if Dumbledore hadn't sworn him to silence about the Shrieking Shack incident, he wouldn't have told Lucius. This was just too good to be true, and his chance to make Lucius pay at least a little for the inconvenience he'd forced upon him. Severus tried to straighten himself up once more, but instead resigned to glaring. 

"If _you_ are not capable of handling Lupin - I'll do it! FLIBBERTIGIBBET!" And with a swish of his robe he slid past the other boy and entered silently. 

***

Lucius had stared at the entrance for several minutes when he heard someone laughing real loud - Lupin. Another few minutes passed and another hearty laugh was heard - Potter's voice! 'Having fun behind my back, I bet,' Lucius thought. He would have a _word_ with Severus about this. Making a fool out of people was supposed to be _his_ part. After another five minutes full of disturbing visions of what the two boys were possibly doing in there, the portrait opened and Lupin showed up, followed by Severus.

"Sirius, why didn't you tell me?", Remus said with a comforting smile. "There's nothing to it, really. Everybody gets that from time to time!"

"I - don't - know?" All the words seemed to be drained out of Lucius, but luckily he didn't blush again. 

Severus jumped in for his friend, holding something right in front of Lucius' face. "I've got the cloak!" His eyes were sparkling smugness. "So, why don't you give Remus an apology for being all scary on him, and we go back to business?" Pushing Lucius like this was a risk, Severus knew that. But he couldn't have resisted even if Lucius had pointed a wand at him. But Lucius just looked at him with a blank expression and then turned his face to Lupin. 

What happened next was something Severus had never expected to see, not in his worst nightmares, not despite knowing about Lucius' frequent overreacting. His friend flung his arms around Lupin, pressing him so tight that Severus could hear Lupin gasping heavily for air. There could have been a cracking sound too, but Severus, being in shock, thought that this was rather his imagination than reality. After a few seconds, which seemed to last forever, Lucius disentangled himself from Lupin, kissed him on the cheek and said "Sorry!" as if nothing had happened. 

The silence that followed was - _intense_. Neither Severus nor Remus dared to say anything. And when Lucius was about to open his mouth, which would have certainly brought death and mayhem and with it, Severus got back on his mental feet. "Fine", he almost shouted. "Now that that's done, let's go!" He grabbed Lucius' arm and yanked him along, fully aware of the fact that their cover was certainly blown to smithereens. 


	4. First Blood & First Impression

A/N:

Hi everybody! I don't have much to say about the following chapter, only that it's getting a bit dramatic towards the end. But I think it still sticks to the overall mood of the story.

So I hope you like it. As always, reviews are welcome!

Thanx

Mi

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"Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished."

First Blood

"FLIBBERTIGIBETT!" James shouted.

"Don't be stupid, that's _our_ password!"

"I know. I was just ... practicing."

"Practicing for what? Hogwarts School of Lunatic Drama Art? If you don't remember the word just say so."

"..."

"Oh, move over!" Sirius said with a laugh. He always liked confused James. "FACIES HOSTIUM!" 

"Let's hope _that's_ not a bad sign," James mused. He was relieved that Sirius got his humour back. Handling a brooding Black always gave him terrible headaches.

"Don't worry. I think from now on we are riding straight to fame and glory. So, what do you say - shall we dare break into the demon's lair?"

James enthusiastically struck a pose, and threw in some Snape attitude. He was delighted to see Sirius slightly intimidated by the result. "BLACK! Enter and you shall be transfigured into a sheep!" 

***

They didn't stop laughing until they reached the Slytherin common room, which was - not empty. Sitting nervously by the fireplace with their backs to the Marauders were Crabbe and Goyle.

"What are they doing here?" James whispered. 

"Let's ask them. This shouldn't -"

"No! They'll know that Malfoy and Snape -"

"Don't panic! I know what to do, trust me!"

"You always say that and it's never true."

Sirius shot James an offended look. "Did I ever let you down on anything?"

James rolled his eyes - not that again! "Please! You _know_ I trust you with my life, but -" 

"Fine, then be supportive!" 

"Don't -"

"HEY," Sirius called out to Malfoy's henchboys. "What are you two doing here?! Didn't I give you orders?" 

The two Slytherins jumped up like bludgers. Sirius was enjoying this immensely while James tried to shrink away with embarassment, which with the body he currently occupated wasn't working very well. 

Goyle was the first to find his voice again. "Lucius?! We thought you already -"

"Apparently not!" Sirius cut him short.

"Errr, yes ... alright ... umm ... we ... " 

Seeing the horror in Goyle's face, James almost felt sorry for them - and very grateful for not having to put up with a friend like Lucius Malfoy.

At last Goyle managed to form a coherent sentence. "I know! You assigned us to look after Potter and Black. But on the way we - "

"Silence! I've heard enough of your pathetic stuttering. Severus, would you please ..." He turned away from _his_ two cronies and waved an unpatient hand at James. Swishing his robe dramatically James stepped forward. "Why do you think Lucius and I are still here? Any suggestions? Goyle?"

"..."

"Crabbe?"

"Because - we - _failed_ - to - occupy - Potter and Black?"

"Ah, five points for this completely unforeseen logical conclusion of yours, Master Crabbe. We have to deal with the _failure_-part later!" 

And then, one irresistably simple idea struck Sirius. "Go and get them now. And make it right! Don't talk to them, just curse - " James nudged Snape's edgy elbow into Sirius' chest. "- petrify them. From behind. No bloodshed."

Crabbe and Goyle looked uncertain at this last remark and Sirius hurried to finish it up. "Understood? Go now, before I shed some of _your_ blood, morons!"

They nodded hastily and hurried out of the room.

"Now was I good or what?" Sirius grabbed James' arm and dragged him up the stairs, which would hopefully lead to the sixth years' dormitories. "I just can't wait to see what's hidden in Snape's trunk!"

"You are ridiculous, you know that? Can't you just get yourself a hobby or a girlfriend!"

"I could. But that wouldn't be the same as ... Snape."

"I hope not!"

Fifteen minutes, several nervous breakdowns and one disturbing encounter in the seventh year girls' dormitory later, they found the right room - which was a mess! Obviously neither Crabbe nor Goyle nor Malfoy had much of that Slytherin ambitiousness as far as their own bedroom was concerned. But then, they were just teenage boys like everybody else.

Only one place was perfectly tidy, and Sirius got all exited. "That's Snape's. Can't wash his hair properly, but gets off on meticulous discipline. What a freak!" He immediately started dragging out Snape's trunk from under his bed.

"So, what are we going to do _en detail_? And why?" James still didn't have the slightest idea what Sirius was up to, but he was beginning to suspect that Sirius himself didn't know either.

"Patience. First we have to take care of the lock." He cast an opening spell which failed instantly. "No surprise here," he said and tried two more charms, with the same result. But the fourth one was a winner and the lock sprung open with a soft 'click'. 

"I don't think that I know _that_ spell," James wondered, but Sirius was occupied with inspecting the trunk's inside. "Fascinating!"

"Yeah, so Snape has a lot of books! But didn't we know that already?"

Sirius ignored James' teasing and was eagerly working his way through books and neatly folded black clothes. After his ruffling through the books quickly rearranged themselves into alphabetical order while the clothes folded themselves together again. 

"_That's_ fascinating!" James comented.

"Damn, I thought we'd find at least four or five potions we could use for the test next week!"

James froze. "WHAT? - That's what it's all about?" 

But Sirius didn't listen. Instead he picked up a small flacon with a purple substance, reading the inscription. "Ha, I knew he'd put a label on it! Prolonging Potion." Sirius whistled through his teeth. "_That's_ a tricky one. We don't need it for the test, but I think I'll keep it anyway. Snape won't have made it for beneficial purpose!"

"What does it do exactly?"

"It prolongs all kinds of transformational states. We could, for example, make the Polyjuice effect last longer than it usually does. Or we could _trap_ someone in their transfigured animal form, an animagus or -," he stopped, "someone like Remus! That bastard! I can't believe - "

"How long?"

"Depends on how concentrated Snape has made it. I guess it ranges between a day and a week." 

"You're right," James said slowly. "We better keep it. But we don't know for sure if Snape made it for Remus."

Sirius gave him an unusually stern look. "Really, you shouldn't be so naive all the time! He's bad news! Snape not simply _doesn't like_ us, he hates us. You know that, don't you?" 

James didn't reply and just in case he'd missed anything, Sirius started his second inspection. He was back to brooding again and that rearranging spell didn't help! 

"I say we take something real valuable too, something we could keep up our sleeve in case he tries another foul move. Something we can use as a ... ransom?"

"I don't think that's a good idea."

But Sirius already held up a book. "_This_ looks good. 'Potions and their Masters: A History'! It must be very - "

"Put it back!"

"Why? He was going to poison Remus -"

"We don't know that! And we don't steal things."

"We don't steal it. We just borrow it!"

"I said, put it back!"

With a sigh Sirius threw the book on Snape's bed. "Alright. You won. Satisfied?"

Something shiny caught James' attention. "Hey, what's that?"

"What's what?" 

"How should I know?" 

Between Snape's sweaters lay a filigree black artifact, perfectly disguised among all the other black stuff. It was shaped like a feather with red and emerald runes on it. They were shifting positions and changing form while the boys watched with awe - till James reached out for it.

"Wait - ," but he'd already grabbed it. With the sound of sliding silk it began to transform. James gasped, but kept his hand steady, and a black raven with emerald eyes and a red beak was emerging. It had only the size of a remembrall but they could see its strength and agility.

"It's beautiful!" both boys whispered unisono. 

The raven gracefully stretched its wings and flew to the other side of the room. It perched for a few seconds on the top of a cupboard before it fixed its eyes on James, screeched, and shot down at him like a throwing-knife. 

Sirius was shouting something but James couldn't hear it. He tried to move, but he couldn't do that either. All he could see and think of was that red razor-sharp beak coming at him full speed. 'I'm going to die in Snape's bedroom!' was his presumably last thought.

Then he saw a shadow darting between him and the bird. Then something hit ...

*** 

James wondered if he'd been knocked out for a few minutes, because the next thing he saw was Sirius standing over him. "Okay, _you_ won this time," James choked. "Snape almost killed us!"

Sirius was trembling and sat down on the bed. There was blood on his robe.

"Sirius?" James came to his feet. 

"I'm fine," Sirius said weakly. "Just a _minor_ cut. That bloody bird rammed itself halfway through my shoulder, can you believe that? I had to drag it out by its tail. I did a spell to stabilize the wound and do away with the bloody feathers."

James winced at the images forming in his head. "What happened to the - _bird_?" 

"Bloody coward! Transformed itself back after hitting me. I - ," Sirius smirked manically, "- stomped it."

James bit his lips. "Alright. That's it! We are going straight to the hospital wing. And no arguing!"

"I think that's fine with me."

They made their way back to the common room and then out of Slytherin. James almost ran despite his friend's injuries. So this time _Sirius_ got the pains of keeping up with _him_.

First Impression

After minutes of overwhelming silence, Severus finally tried to defuse the situation. At least Potter's soft and admittedly pleasant timbre was useful now. So he started his speech with the most successful event of the evening.

"We've got Potter's cloak, and that's what we came here for, right?"

Lucius kept on walking.

"On the other hand, we certainly blew our cover. But Lupin's so daft, maybe he still thinks we _are_ Potter and Black."

Lucius didn't even blink.

"Anyway, we have to find the real Potter and Black. I met Evans - that's the reason I was late, by the way. She was teasing me about _my_ secret plans for tonight - secret plans with Black!"

Still no response.

"I _mean_, if Potter runs out on his supposed-to-be-girlfriend on Yule Ball evening - this plan has to be _very_ important! My theory's this: Black, I guess, found out about your plan and started the counterattack, doing the same as we did - namely taking the Polyjuice Potion. They snatched Crabbe and Goyle or they got stuck on their own somewhere, and went out to have fun at our expense. And because those _Marauders_ are so totally into this harmony-thing, they didn't tell Evans and Lupin, because they wouldn't go along with their plan, too risky bla, bla, bla! So, the point is -

Lucius' blow hit him full force. The pain was strong and sickening and he was, despite all his precautions, taken by surprise. Lucius grabbed the collar of his robe and pinned him to the wall. The impact dislocated some pebbles and Lucius' grip was making it hard to breathe. 'That's just great,' Severus managed to think. 'It's banging-Snape-against-the-wall again!'

"Don't do that EVER AGAIN! Am I making myself clear?" Lucius' eyes were blazing.

The answer got stuck in Severus' throat and only made it out of his mouth by sheer willpower. "Yes," he hissed, blood running over his lips. 'First broken nose of the night,' he thought sarcastically. 'What a surprise.'

Lucius brought his face as close as possibly to his, and Severus fiercely held eye contact. "What did you tell Lupin?"

"NOTHING! Just that Black had a fight with McGonagall after Transfiguration class, that he tried to cheat on the double-frog-snail-test, and that he lost points, and that he's in some kind of identity crisis, like 'what am I doing with my life after school', etc." He tried to catch some breath. "If this is about my loyalties - I didn't sell you to the enemy! I was just trying to save - the situation."

Lucius tightened his grip, increasing the pressure on Severus' neck.

"Let GO of me!" He spit the words in Lucius' face, despite knowing that it would be healthier to just sit it out. 

"Do you think this is a game? May I remind you that Black is far stronger than Potter! Oh, of course you could poison me with one of your stupid concoctions tomorrow, or next week, but - I think we both know who's depending on whom in our friendship, don't you? You owe me, Severus."

Yes, he did. He remembered his first year at Hogwarts quite well. It was a nightmare - till Lucius became his friend. At first, Severus thought it was because of his good grades, because Lucius could made him do the tricky homework for him. But after some time he realised that there was more to it - respect perhaps, God knows why. Severus was the only person who could talk to Lucius pretty much as he liked, even disrespectful and bad tempered. But only to a certain point, behind which Lucius got _mean_. He had only crossed this line once before today - not something he wanted to remember. Sometimes he thought that Lucius was, in the real sense of the word, crazy - and dangerous. 

"So, did that lousy Evans tell you something else?"

"We ... she and Potter have a date after the ball!"

"Hm, could be useful," Lucius mused. He was still concentrated on staring Severus down. "Good boy!" he said with a jerky smile. Severus glared back at him with a murderous expression and Lucius released him. "I want Black and Potter found! I want them found quickly so they don't get any more chances to walk around as us, losing us points! I want to break their bloody necks!" He sighed heavily. "Metaphorically speaking. We split - you go looking for Crabbe and Goyle. Find out what happened to them. Curse them if necessary. Next, we have to search systematically. I'll go to the Great Hall and Slytherin tower. We meet there in twenty minutes. And clean yourself up, you look horrible. By the way - I was just keeping up with the act when I hugged Lupin, I'm sure you noticed that!" With the last remark he squeezed Severus' shoulder, the storm apparently was over. "And, if you run into Evans or Lupin again, don't be nice, for God's sake!"

"I was only being nice because you wanted that bloody cloak. And with the appropriate result as you should have noticed. I don't think my efforts are properly acknowledged here," he snapped. So they were back to _normalcy_. Only Severus' anger wasn't gone. But he could hold it back, he always could.

"You'll get your _acknowledgement_, I promise. Just let's get this over and done with! And give me the cloak."

Passing the cloak to Lucius, Severus wondered what the fact that Lucius was his only friend might say about himself.


	5. First Lie & First Reflections

Hi again. Thanks for the reviews everyone! Please keep with me, and invite some friends. :-) 

A/N: About "First Reflections": I know Sirius didn't come up with the idea of using the Shrieking Shack (it was built on Dumbledore's behalf, in fact), but I couldn't resist it. I found it cute, so I left it in. And it fitted nicely into the way I see the friendship between Remus and Sirius. 

Mi

__

"There's no trust, no faith, no honesty in men. All perjur'd, all forsworn, all naught, all dissemblers."

First Lie

"Would you mind not running, I've got a flesh-wound here." Sirius looked sick. The spell on his shoulder didn't seem to work very well, so James slowed down and waited for Sirius to catch up. "You know," James said, "there's probably no way to keep this charade going once Madam Pomfrey locks you up." 

Sirius growled. "I know. But there wasn't much sense to it anyway."

"Ah." 

"Oh please, don't look at me like this. I _really_ thought it would be fun!" Sirius said defensively.

"And what fun would that be young masters? You're missing out on all the dancing and romantic jittering. I don't think that Slytherin doctrine forbids happy sociable behaviour." 

The voice was painfully familiar and both boys froze on the spot. James was completely drained of colour, and burning red spots spread on Sirius' cheeks, making him look even sicker. They turned around slowly. 

"Professor Dumbledore?" James stuttered. "Bloody ... what are you - " Sirius stomped on his foot to shut him up. Offending Dumbledore wasn't on their list. But then again - if they could manage to keep up the show for a bit longer, they could make their exit with a bang. A _big_ bang - for Slytherin House! Of course this ruled out going to the infirmary while still being Malfoy. But, to heck with the pain!

"What Severus wanted to say is," Sirius jumped in, "that we perfectly understand your _situation_, Headmaster."

Dumbledore raised a heavy eyebrow, but smiled nonetheless. "My situation? And what would this be, Master Malfoy?" 

"Obviously, you are too old to attend the ball yourself, so you had to do the patrolling." Sirius flashed a conspirational smile at the Headmaster. "My father said you are at least two hundred years old. But we won't tell anyone. We promise!" He wasn't very proud of himself, but sometimes there were such things as priorities. 

James wasn't sure he really heard what he'd heard. He looked at Sirius as if he was completely bonkers. Of which, by the way, he was _absolutely_ sure. 

Dumbledore wasn't smiling anymore. "I think we should rather be talking about your situation, gentlemen. Is that blood on your robe, Master Malfoy?"

Sirius thrust his chest out. "Yes, but the other boy got his fair share too. I'm a Malfoy! Why don't you tell us how much points we lose, so we can get this over and done with? I want to take a bath and send an owl to my father."

James wished he was dead. This was beyond unbelievable. Albus Dumbledore was the best Headmaster this school had ever had, and bringing his wrath down on him and Sirius, even if Dumbledore thought they were someone else, was worst case scenario. If Dumbledore found out about all this ... 

And then to top things up, Severus Snape entered the scene. Sirius froze in mid-Malfoy-pose, James gaped open-mouthed, and Severus just - blinked, repeatedly. He looked as bad as Sirius, nose broken, robe ragged and quite as bloody. 

Dumbledore's face, fitting nicely into this display of horror, was a mask of anger and disappointment. He looked at Severus and then back to James and Sirius. "So this is the other boy you talked about, Master Malfoy? I don't think that your father can get you out of this one. All three of you - in my office, NOW!"

***

While trotting behind the Headmaster, Severus took his time to inspect the others. The one being Lucius - Black, most likely - looked pretty much worn out. Good! So Severus wasn't the only one. Potter was in better shape, but didn't look happy either. Severus decided to keep a low profile for now. This was an unforeseen but not unsolvable situation. Dumbledore - of course - didn't even seem to think that Potter could have started this mess, he was always on their side! Perhaps he could do something about it later.

Sirius waited for Snape to make a move, but the other boy just kept staring. This was not good. If Sirius didn't watch it, Snape certainly would take advantage of the situation. But what could Snape do without blowing his own cover? Probably nothing. Well, he'd better watch him anyway.

James didn't wish to be dead anymore, now he wished he'd never been born. Surprisingly, he got the impression that Snape was feeling the same thing. Good! So he wasn't the only one feeling miserable. But then, Snape never looked happy, so it was hard to tell what was really going on in his mind. How he wished he were with Lily now. She wouldn't have gotten herself into something like this. 'I have to talk to her afterwards, I have to - '

"James," Sirius panicked, trying desperately to keep his voice down. "You are changing back!!" 

James proceeded the information and then proceeded to panic. "What?? That can't be! You said ... what do we do? Dumbledore will never forgive ... we lied to him, openly ... he'll never trust us again ... we are done for! ... " 

"Didn't make your potion properly, Black?" Severus' smirk was all over his face. "I think you'll get expelled, what do _you_ think?"

"... I'm not gonna let this happen ... this is a nightmare ... " James went on with his tantrum. "Let's run away!" 

Severus drew his wand. "You are going nowhere - "

"Put that down or I'll forget myself!" Sirius hissed, grabbing both of them by their sleeves. "We can't run anyway, Dumbledore would catch us in a sec." Severus put his wand back in his pocket while James' brain was working overtime. Hopefully it would explode and put him out of his misery. "... the Forbidden Forest ... we'll lose the House Cup ... Wait!" he almost forgot whispering, "we take the potion we snatched from Snape's trunk!"

Now Sirius went all cranky. "Are you crazy! Forget it! I'm not drinking anything Snape brewed up. I'm going to kill myself first! I - "

"But we can _make_ Snape help us. He sure wouldn't want Dumbledore to know about his Prolonging Potion, and that he was going to use it on Remus!"

"I thought we didn't know _that_ for sure?" Sirius said sarcastically. James shrugged in defeat.

"Excuse_ me_! What're you freaks babbling about?" Panic was finally catching up with Severus. 

Sirius held the flask under Snape's nose. "He's talking about you helping us not changing back or otherwise - you'll get expelled too!"

"This - is - a - really - big - mistake." Severus snarled through bared teeth. He seemed short of boiling over. "You dare to steal things from me? You're a dead man Black."

"Shut up!" James cut in. "Tell us how to use it. And don't try anything funny. Dumbledore's right in front of us."

Severus bit his lips - he knew he was nicked. He just couldn't bring himself to admit it. Potter was shrinking several inches and _Lucius'_ blond hair showed streaks of Black. His mind rebelled, but they were running out of time. He sighed. "I swear to you Black, this isn't over yet. You may win tonight, but don't turn your back on me in the future or I'll make you regret it. You too, Potter!" He braced himself and his voice assumed a teacher-like quality. "You take only two drops each. This is a very highly concentrated version of the Prolonging Potion. Even in such a small dose the effect will last a full day. That means - you stay Malfoy and me at least till tomorrow evening."

"But where do we sleep tonight? And what about tomorrow?" James was regretting this plan already.

"Do you want to save your butts or not?" Severus snapped. "Of course, if _you_ should try anything funny during the day being me and Lucius - "

"Alright, we've got it." And with that Sirius took the potion. James wanted to protest but they had almost reached the office, and it was now or never. After all, this had been his stupid idea. Surprisingly it tasted quite good, like apples, and he felt a kind of power-boost too. "Wow, did you combine it with Up-All-Night Potion?"

Severus smirked. "Hope your heart can cope with the adrenaline." Both boys stared at him, eyes wide open. "Oh come on, you'll be fine! I'm not bloody Dr. Frankenstein. If I wanted to poison you I wouldn't use Prolonging Potion. Stupid Gryffindors!" Severus was so eager on the subject that he didn't notice Dumbledore had stopped by the stone gargoyle. So he ran into him and stumbled over his feet - again!

This time Dumbledore helped him up. "Did I hear something about poison, Master Potter? I will hope not!" 

"No ... we were just talking about ... the potion test next week ... poisons are on the list." Then he got a grip on himself and took the opportunity to make the score even. "Professor Dumbledore, sir, it was all my fault. I'm sorry. I went all mad about Malfoy saying something stupid and ... attacked him. Snape tried to defend him and - "

"We'd better discuss this inside, James. PUMPKIN PIE!"

A few moments later, all three boys found themselves seated on Dumbledore's couch. They sat shoulder to shoulder, each of them trying to pretend at least one of the others wasn't there. The couch felt very comfortable, though. 

Dumbledore sat behind his desk with a stern expression and cleared his throat. "I'll make this quick, because I think at least two of you should already be in the hospital wing by now. I can't tolerate this behaviour, not by any means. Violence and bloodshed I will not allow in my school, regardless of which side has started it! Master Potter will lose 150, and you two 100 points each! You will all serve detention tomorrow morning six o'clock, sharp, where we will discuss this matter in detail. And if you try one more stunt like this, you'll be leaving this school with the next train. Now, report to Madam Pomfrey and then go back to your dormitories. I don't want to see any of you out of your houses for the rest of the night, and all further nights! Now that's done with - anybody care for a Bertie Bott's bean?"

They didn't. They left Dumbledore's office without any more attempts on discrediting each other. 

***

Once out, Severus found it hard to focus. His arms and legs were heavy as lead. Sirius' shoulder was sending waves of pain through his body, making him dizzy. James wasn't in physical pain, but the prospect of staying Snape for another whole day made him shake all over. Neither Slytherin nor Griffindors had any fighting-spirit left. 

"What are we going to do?" James asked. "We cannot serve detention like this."

Sirius shrugged and then winced as the pain doubled. "Let's think about this tomorrow, okay? We can stay the night at the infirmary." The two Marauders started walking. James stopped as he realised that Severus wasn't following. "Keep up, will you? You heard what Dumbledore said. Besides, your nose needs looking after, too."

"The game's not over yet." He really didn't want to, but he still had to tie up some loose ends - like Crabbe and Goyle. But then he was already late for meeting Lucius. Maybe he should find him first and - explain things.

Sirius turned on him, scratching up the last bits of anger he'd left. "Your bird-thingy did a good job on my shoulder. It was going to _kill_ James! Do you really think _this_ is a game?" 

Severus managed a glare. "Don't you? _You_ tried to kill _me_ last year, and thought it was all fun, remember? While my magical watcher only protected my belongings." 

"Hah."

"Anyway," Severus turned to face Potter, too tired for further witty repartee. "Perhaps we ... call it a night. Jus' - go away." 

"Err, perhaps you should watch out for Crabbe and Goyle," James replied carefully.

"Wha'?"

"We sent them to hex you."

"..."

Severus was so beyond words, but then - words weren't enough to express how much he loathed Black and Potter.

First Reflections

"You're late!" Lily complained. She'd waited for Remus for almost an hour, and she wasn't the patient type.

Remus was catching his breath. "Sorry, I was ... let's say I had a strange encounter with Sirius." 

"They're already through with the good songs!"

"Errr ... Sorry again. Perhaps we could just sit and watch the others tripping over their feet? I'm not a good dancer anyway."

"But I am!"

"Sure! No offence." 

Lily shrugged. She shouldn't bang it out on Remus. "So, what did he say?

"Who?"

"Sirius."

"Nothing ... important," he said evasively, and then tried to distract her. "James was there too!"

"I met him earlier." She sighed. "He broke his glasses again."

"Do you know what they're up to?"

"Something including Malfoy and Snape of course! I mean, they should ... hang out with girls more often ... with special girls ... one girl ... for talking or a picknic ... or on special occasions ... like ... going to Hogsmeade ... or a Dance!"

"I know, they didn't ask _me_ either. Not that I'm a girl, of course!"

"It surely wouldn't have been the romantic kind of date but - anyway! Oh get a grip, Evans." She turned to Remus. "Why don't we have fun on our own now? Let's dance while there's still any music at all."

***

They started dancing, but all Lily could do was think of James. She tried not to, but that only made it worse. She felt bad about not paying enough attention to Remus. Obviously he was in the same left-behind mood as she was, having thoughts of his own which he didn't want to share. She made another halfhearted try to find out what troubled him, but was too occupied with herself to make it work. 

Absently she scanned the crowd for unwanted visitors like Snape or Malfoy. Not that she really expected them to show up, not with all the teachers around, and James and Sirius on their tracks. But she was alarmed, slightly concerned, and most of all angry. This Marauders-against-Slytherin _thing_ was getting out of hand. Sirius had gotten more and more obsessed with ... she couldn't say what - rivalry, hate, ecxitement? Who knew. 

And James? James was the most goodnatured person she'd ever met. Surely he wouldn't hurt someone on purpose, not even Malfoy. But, just like Sirius, he could get himself into more trouble than was good for him. He wasn't as easily provoked as his friend, but whenever he accepted a challenge, he was quite determined. Well, sometimes he was a bit cheesy, but, she had to admit, she quite liked it.

So, what about her? How did she fit in? Well, truth to be told, she'd enjoyed kicking Slytherin-butts too. She'd liked the competition and the secrecy, to be the one who brought Sirius' insane schemes down to rational and effective planning. 

And she strongly _disliked_ Lucius Malfoy. The mere sight of him made her twitch. Not that she hated him. Hate was something she hoped never to feel for anyone. But he was cold, viperous and cruel. He didn't treat people like they were important to him on a personal level. He had _servants_ of course. 

Then there was Snape. She couldn't judge him as easily as she could Malfoy, he was - more complex. Of course he was annoying, unpleasant, and didn't care for anything but potions, _and_ he was always bad-tempered. She'd only talked to Snape once and was insulted by his You're-Just-a-Stupid-Gryffindor-Girl attitude and the lack of any sign of kindness. He'd looked down on her as he did on anyone, and in a way he was cold too, but not like Malfoy. And then he had the most unnerving eyes she'd ever seen. Black, like dark tunnels, sparkling with intelligence and - something _irrational_, but she couldn't grasp it. Looking into this eyes was fascinating - in a disturbing way. She liked to believe that there could be more than met the eye. She always wondered where he'd got this obsessive interest in the Marauders' activities from in the first place. For all she knew _he'd_ started spying on them, following Sirius and Lupin with God knows which intentions. Well, Sirius had already picked on Snape even before he made friends with Malfoy and Co. But - why did she bother about him anyway? Thinking about his eyes, of all things? 

Her own excitement about this _feud_ had ceased when the pranks on both sides became too serious and personal. And after what had happened last year, the Marauders almost got torn apart. Remus had been shocked beyond anything. He couldn't believe that Sirius had been able to willingly put another person's life at stake, _and_ used him as a pawn in his plan, which would have brought blood on Remus' hands too. Lily hadn't managed to get them talking to each other again - but James had. Perhaps it was during this time that she'd realised she was in love with James Potter. She'd had a crush on him before, but wouldn't have risked their friendship over some _petty romance_. But the moment she'd realised that her feelings were much stronger than that, she'd known she _had to_ take the risk. And she was also sure that James felt the same about her. He hadn't said anything yet, but it was in the way they got along with each other, the way he looked at her. She'd wanted to tell him tonight - instead they'd had a fight, about his _priorities_. Stupid, stupid, stupid! She'd sounded like a nagging housewife! She _hated_ it. Her sister always was like this, and Lily couldn't stand it. But she would see James in ... one hour and seven minutes, if nothing went wrong. Maybe this night still could be one to remember. And perhaps she could still enjoy the dance till then.

***

Lily sure was a good dancer, but all Remus could do was think of Sirius. He wasn't in the mood for conversation, and luckily Lily was occupied with her own thoughts as well. He wondered why she was so tense - probably she hoped for James still to show up. No such luck, he guessed. James and Sirius had been _extremely_ busy with some Slytherin-scenario earlier. 

But the fact they'd shut him out from their plans wasn't what troubled him. It was Sirius' outright scary behaviour towards him. Sirius seemed to be - no, confused wasn't the word - not quite himself. Like he was playing some role, or - stepping out of one. Remus would have been suspicious about some magic involved, but - it hadn't been the first time his friend was like this. Not in this extreme form but it was somehow fitting. Sirius had been - _different_ for the past weeks. Either this, or Remus was imagining things. 

He and Sirius had been close since their first year. In fact, no one was as important to him as Sirius was. Before they'd become friends, Remus had never told anyone about being a werewolf, and he'd decided to keep it that way. When he'd started out at Hogwarts, he'd carefully _socialised_ with other Gryffindor students, but kept his distance. Then, after one of his first full moons at Hogwarts, Sirius Black had found out about him. He'd come over to Remus one day, and had told him that he knew, that he'd seen him change. Remus had been absolutely terrified and embarassed. Only once in his life had he felt like this, after his first transformation. But instead of being _mean_, Sirius had given him one of his mischievous grins: 'I think I have to find you someplace safe for your tranformations, my friend. Otherwise the whole school will know before they even have learned what a werewolf is'. He'd said that as if he'd grown up with a little werewolf brother or at least was playing chess with one of them once a week - and winning. Sirius didn't pity him, or was scared, or treated him like a freak - he just wanted to help. And so everything had changed. 

And now, something was changing again. He wasn't sure what it was, but sometimes he had the feeling that Sirius had - - a crush on him. Oh God, that sounded stupid. Sirius wasn't ... he couldn't ... this was crazy! Surely James was right and Sirius was just experiencing some kind of identity crisis or he'd had too much Up-All-Night Potion. 

But - this wasn't all about Sirius' feelings, it was about himself, about _his_ - feelings. Well, he would _never_ bring this up anyway. Perhaps, that was something they would never find out about each other. Perhaps - 

***

"You lied to me!" Lily interrupted his inner monologue, bringing him back to the present.

"What?"

"You're quite a good dancer, Remus Lupin!" 

He laughed. "Don't look so surprised. If you spend one night in a month on four feet, you have to learn to sort them out. But I'm glad you noticed." 

She looked smug. "Of course I did. Last year I had one dance with Peter, that was horrible! We were like circling ... somehow ... like in a wheel, till he finally got sick and - "

Remus hurriedly raised a hand. "I know! James told me all about it. Didn't Peter try to clean up your dress with that new spell he learned from Longbottom?"

"Oh God - YES!" She barely was able to speak through her laughter, and Remus was happy to see her relax. "Instead of _removing_ the dirt, the dress magnetically was drawing _all kinds_ of dirt _to it_, everything from dust to food-leftovers to - you know, the bathroom-thingies."

"Yeah, everybody smelled it for weeks. Pity Peter didn't let go of the dress! I wonder if _that_ was the true reason he left school."

"Remus! That's not funny." But her smile betrayed her. "Hey look, there's Sirius!" She pointed over to the door. "Wow, he's in a hurry. Shall we - "

"No," Remus cut her. "_I'll_ go."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "That sounds serious. Won't you tell me now - " 

"I'll tell you later, okay? Nothing to worry about." He looked at her reassuringly and took off.

Lily looked after him, wondering why all the men tended to walk out on her tonight. 


	6. First Orders & First Hit

Author Notes:

All things must come to an end. Well, it's not the end yet - but this is the penultimate chapter. So watch out for the end next week! And the epilogues ... and the addendums, and the alternate scenes, and the comic-book, and the musical ... just kiddding.

Okaaaaayy - on with the show!

No-one ::sniff:: belongs to Mi. All the personae are J.K.Rowling's. Thanks!

__

"A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?"

First Orders

After what seemed endless searching around - it was only an hour in fact - Crabbe and Goyle had resigned to waiting. They were hiding behind two pillars, standing right and left of a pathway leading to Slytherin Tower. Goyle chewed on something chocolatey, Crabbe just bored himself to death. 

"Why aren't we searching for them again, like Lucius told us?" Crabbe whispered.

"I told you! If we do it like this we don't have to _move_ around, understand? I'm tired and my feet hurt."

"Oh, you sissy! You are always _tired_. If Lucius finds out about this - we're toast."

"Why? We'll catch them, you'll see. It's only a matter of time till they come this way. I bet they want to peek on our little secrets." He showed a dirty grin. 

"Yeah, because we have so many!"

"I'm sure Lucius isn't fond of sarcasm either." Goyle went on chewing.

"Why do you think he ordered 'no bloodshed'?"

"He's going soft, I say."

Crabbe twitched. "Don't _say_ that! He could hear you. He has eyes everywhere."

"..."

"What?" Crabbe said defensively.

"Never mind. What spells do we use then?"

"I know the Unvorgivables ... hell, we can't use them, can we? Wait - the Imperius curse isn't necessarily bloody."

"_No_ - but Azkaban is." 

"Alright. But if - let's say we petrify them then, and let's say Potter hits a stone with his face so he bleeds - does that count?"

Goyle thought about it. "Hm - I don't think that counts. We could ... scatter some stones around and - shush. Did you hear that?" He gave Crabbe an elaborate get-ready sign and both boys brought their wands in position. Goyle started to count silently but with much mouth-moving: 'One - two - three.'

They jumped in front of their supposed victim. Crabbe shortly after Goyle, because he'd been missing out on number two and therefore counted three two times and got all confused in the end. 

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" 

"FURNUNCULUS!"

They heard a thump when something hit the floor. Goyle gave Crabbe a look. "_Furnunculus_?" The other boy shrugged. 

When the smoke cleared, Levin Longbottom lay in front of them. His face showed a mixture of surprise and total horror - and an awful lot of pimples.

"That's luck. It could have been Frank," Crabbe stated. "Would have blasted us away for sure."

Goyle shrugged. "Perhaps we should check who's coming _before_ we attack?"

"Yeah, think we could do that."

***

Ten minutes later, with Longbottom safely hidden behind a third pillar, the boys heard another someone approaching. 

"Who is it?" Crabbe hissed.

"I can't see a bloody thing yet."

"You're not looking the right way."

"Then _you_ do it!"

The footsteps stopped. "Hello?"

Crabbe frantically gestured and Goyle jumped out of his hiding. 

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" 

Another nasty floor-hitting sound was heard. And again - it wasn't Potter or Black. It was just some girl. 

"That's Jenny Devari," Crabbe said through a hearty yawn.

"That Hufflepuff girl Severus sees once in a while, to make kinky potions-stuff with?"

"No, I think they only do potions together."

"..." 

"What!"

"_Nothing_. Let's get rid of her and try again!"

Crabbe looked thoughtful. "Do you think she would do potions with me too?"

"NO."

"But I look better than Severus."

Goyle's face lit up. "But you are _crabbe_ at potions!"

***

They tucked Devari in with Longbottom and got ready once more. Goyle had run out of chocolate, which left him edgy, and Crabbe was still bored.

"Goyle, I have an idea."

"Now that would be something."

"Instead of petrifying the next one, we could turn him or her into a kitty so we can play with it. Wouldn't be so boring anymore." 

Goyle jumped up. "The next one has to be Potter! Or Black! And we don't play with - _kittens_. Slytherins don't do things like that."

"Get a grip, man! I was only joking. You _are_ edgy when your blood-sugar is down."

"It's not my fault that I'm getting hungry all the time."

"Hey - I hear another one. This time look properly!"

Goyle ducked and looked properly. It was Potter! He made the it's-him-sign to Crabbe. 'One - two - '

"THREE!" They jumped.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" 

"FURNUNCULUS!"

Crabbe blinked. "Where is he?"

"How should I know?"

"You said he was there!"

"He was, moron. He just - isn't anymore."

"Perhaps _you_ should wear his glasses, bloody idiot!"

"Don't call me - idiot. Or I'll ..."

"Or you'll what. Curse me? Come on, go ahead - make my day!"

Both boys glared at each other and then shouted "STUPEFY!" at exactly the same time, which led to the interesting result that they - just stunned each other. 

***

Severus stood there in utter disbelieve. First they'd jumped up _behind_ him, apparently because of waiting too long, and then ... At least Crabbe and Goyle had got rid of themselves! Of course he could revive them, but it would be funnier to let Lucius do it - a lot funnier.

He smirked tiredly and made a quick statistical overview: Potter and Black, and Crabbe and Goyle - two players from each house were down. So only he and Lucius were still on it. Evans and Lupin shouldn't be counting. So Slytherin would win two to - zero. Not counting the actual loss of house-points of course - 200 from Slytherin and 150 from Gryffindor. He ground his teeth. And they'd taken his potion and - broken his bird! And they'd blackmailed him, forced him to help them - ordered him around like a child. He clenched his fists and looked down at Crabbe and Goyle. And these two dunderheads had tried to curse him! He should make them regret it right away. And Lucius ... He sank his head and waited for his pulse to slow down. Then he made a decision. Lucius could go and marry Lupin for all he cared, _he_ would spent the rest of the night in the Potions Lab, doing some extra credit work for the test next week. That at least was something reliable. He'd clearly had enough bad surprises for one night - actually for the rest of the year.

"What the ... " He nearly stumbled over Devari and Longbottom. Crabbe and Goyle had worked overtime. He poked Longbottom with his wand and played with the thought of reviving them. But then again, that would mean talking and he'd just made up his mind, hadn't he? Besides, he was one of the bad guys after all. Time to act accordingly.

First Hit

Lupin was following him. So he must have figured out by now that he was being played for a fool. Damn! If Severus hadn't overdone the save-the-situation part ... Suddenly Lucius smiled. If Lupin knew, there was no need for Lucius to hold back. He was in the mood for some _real_ bloodshed, not just a broken nose.

Once Lucius was around the next corner, he put on the cloak and waited for the _Marauder_. What a darn stupid name was that anyway? 'The Havoc Bringers' or 'Sons of Destruction' - _that_ was a proper designation for a gang. He could name his own troops like that, Lucius mused. He smirked at the thought that Severus would be pissed off for weeks. His friend didn't seem to have any creative imagination when it came to warfare. 

After a few moments Lupin rushed past him and stopped short when he realised that there wasn't anyone to follow any more. Lucius moved over to him until he was only an arm-length away. He could see Lupin's expression changing from worry to anger. 

"I know you're there. Don't play games with me." Lupin seemed short of losing his temper.

Lucius moved carefully around his _prey_ and then took off the cloak right in front of Lupin's face. "Boo!"

"Ahhrrr ... " Remus jumped. "You want to give me a heart-attack? Jesus, what's wrong with you?" He tried to stop his heart from racing.

"What's the matter? Did I frighten you? I'm so sorry." 

Remus glared at the other boy. Sirius was getting stranger by the minute and he started to get cranky about it. "I have to talk to you. About your demonstration of bad acting earlier," he scowled.

"So, you found out. Took you long enough."

Remus held his breath. He felt like someone had just pushed him over a rooftop - and that didn't help with slowing down his heartbeat. He could feel his cheeks burn and his head was swirling. 

"I knew there was something wrong apart from what James told me," Remus said carefully. "First you shout at me for no reason, then you get sick for no reason and then ... "

Lucius smiled jovially. "Ah, it was the kiss, right? I felt like the _mood_ demanded it."

Remus held Sirius' brown eyes and decided to make a break for it. "Do you have a crush on me?"

"Wha ... What? WHAT?" Lucius blanked out. He tried to activate some self-defence mechanism - like throwing a punch or drawing his wand - but his brain was stuck in repeat-mode and so failed to register that his body was slowly changing back to its actual self. 

"I didn't want to bring this up like - " Remus hesitated. "SIRIUS - " he yelled and then shut his mouth as Sirius Black slowly but unmistakably turned into Lucius Malfoy. 

Lucius had almost decided to curse Lupin into oblivion when his brain finally blew the loop and caught up with real-time. Lupin had called him _SIRIUS_. So this bloody idiot was still thinking he was Black! Lupin was talking to _Black_. He thought _Black_ kissed him because _Black_ had a crush on him! He had to say something. "A crush? Yes ... err ... what about you?" Lucius didn't really know _why_ he was still playing along with the act but, God, this was getting so confusing.

Remus was surprised how fast and clear he could think - now that at least some of this weird happenings made sense. Malfoy looked more than bewildered _and_ he clearly hadn't noticed that he'd changed back. Although Remus felt embarassed and like a complete idiot, he also felt a sudden rush of excitement. Malfoy had toyed with him. And, come to think of it, he'd done it so badly! How on earth could he have ever believed ... Malfoy was in for some nasty payback-acting. 

Lucius had just decided - again - to end this muddling with a good curse, when Lupin slapped him. Though it wasn't really a powerful blow it was enough to shoot tears into his eyes. No-one at this school had _ever_ slapped him before. 

Remus felt the pain in his hand and the rush of adrenaline. It felt great. "How dare you! How can you even think that _I_ would be interested in something as disgusting as ... this is too gross even for you! This is ... _perverse_!"

Lucius tried to stagger back to his mental feet. None of this was his fault. He'd always known that Black was a contradictional weirdo. Black was the one being a pervert, not him! It's just Black, it's just Black, IT'S JUST BLACK! Finally, he drew his wand - 

"ELECTRATE!" - Remus was faster. The curse was sending sparks of blue lightning all over Malfoy's body. It wasn't a stunning spell, but it left Malfoy jittering and unable to move - and with some amazing new hairstyle. 

Remus couldn't help laughing out loud. He wasn't excited about cursing someone, but this was so worth it. 

He tried to keep a straight face and walked over to Malfoy, removed his wand from his hand, and threw it away on the floor. Then he took the cloak out of Malfoy's other hand. "I think this belongs to the _real_ Sirius Black - by association, anyway. You weren't thinking you could fool the Marauders, were you, _Malfoy_?" Remus smirked. "The only one being queer here is you. Sad - but true." Malfoy glared death at Remus and obviously wanted to say something, but his chattering teeth were in the way. Remus tilted his head. "I know, you probably want to kiss me again - but I just don't like you. Sorry."

Remus managed to hold his laughter until he was out of sight. His anger was gone and suddenly he felt very relieved that it hadn't been Sirius. He laughed even louder. And some of the bad feelings and thoughts he'd recently had seemed to be - not so bad anymore.


	7. First Kiss

__

"Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye than twenty of their swords. Look thou but sweet and I am proof against their enmity."

First Kiss

Severus was on his way straight to the dungeons. No delay, no interruptions ... he was through with that.

"James!"

Oh, _please_! Not her again. 

"James, wait up!"

No way! Severus gathered speed. He would just ignore her.

"JAMES!!!"

He stopped himself short of falling down several floors. Where was that damn staircase when you needed it?

Lily catched up with him. "Hey, didn't you see that? What's wrong with you?" She turned him around and frowned. "Oh that's why ... Didn't I tell you to stay in one piece?"

"Didn't _I_ tell you my nose was broken? Look who's right now!" he sniffed. 

"Oh you remember our conversation, do you? May I remind you that we had a date ... um ... two minutes ago? Okay, so you're not late. That's good." Lily felt like an idiot. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. 

Severus smiled despite himself. An irresistably intriguing thought had struck. This was the one perfect chance to make petty Potter pay for - pretty much everything. And it was so easy, he could hurt Potter by hurting Evans. Simple. Lucius, in his place, wouldn't think twice about it. 

Her green eyes were uneasily fixed on him - Evans was nervous. Good. She moved closer and ruffled vaguely through his hair. This was such an annoying habit! He wasn't used to that. 

"James, I have to tell you something." Oh dear - he wasn't used to _that_ either. Her voice left no doubt about what thissomething would be. He tried to ignore that she - looked quite beautiful. She wore a deep-blue dress with black and silver linings on it. No make-up, he noticed. Strange enough, this stressed the colour of her eyes even more. 

"I know, perhaps it's not the best timing ... " she went on. He could smell her hair, which was for once severely tied into a - complex construction on the back of her head. Her face was beaming and ... stop that! What was he thinking? This wouldn't work like that. This wasn't easy at all! He was totally bewildered. This wasn't ... she was ... he couldn't ...

"... but you have to know - " 

"YOU'RE RIGHT," he blurted out. "This isn't the best of times. Dumbledore! He ... he sent me to the hospital wing. I just came here so you don't have to worry." He felt like an idiot. This wasn't going as planned. He growled inwardly. This _so_ wasn't his night! Bloody Potter wins again, without even_ doing_ anything.

"I can walk you there." 

"NO - you should go back to Gryffindor Tower, in case ... Sirius got back? I'll catch you later."

"He's with Remus - and it's nonsense. Can you please stop being all concerned for a while? I _really_ have to talk to you." 

"But ... you look _tired_! Perhaps you should go to bed." Hell, couldn't she just - go away! Maybe he could still curse - 

It happened very fast. She leaned forward, took his hands into hers and kissed him. It was a soft kiss and it was - pleasant. His brain was denying this, telling him to - well, un-kiss her, which was impossible because he couldn't think or move or ... think - and then he even shut his eyes. His brain was complaining again, but it simply wasn't in charge anymore.

It was over in a heartbeat. And when she moved away from him, he could feel the warmth slipping away too. 

"What did you do?" he whispered.

"I kissed you, silly. Didn't you notice?" She was still holding his hands.

"DON'T DO THAT AGAIN!"

"What?" 

She backed away, looking as terrified as he felt and Severus forced himself to calm down. "This isn't ... right. You shouldn't have ... "

"Didn't you ... like it?" 

His face burned. "I ... I liked it - NO, I didn't! ... I mean, I shouldn't have liked it." Oh God, had he really said that? Why couldn't he stop it!

"Why?" She started to panic. This sure wasn't in the manual.

"I'm not - _prepared_ for this!" he said desperately, not sure if he was talking about Potter or himself.

"I'm in love with you, James. I don't know if I'm prepared for this either, but I've wanted to tell you this since - long." She saw his eyes go wide with shock and immediately felt her blood rising up her cheeks. She couldn't go on with him staring like that, and she didn't want to cry - so she got angry. "Say. Something." 

Oh God, oh God, OH GOD! Severus was frantically flailing around for words. Where was bloody Potter when he for once needed him? "Ahm, why don't we sleep - _THINK_ - this over, and talk about it ... tomorrow!?" He saw her red face darken. Not the _right_ words apparently.

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid or a child! If you don't feel the same about me, say it. But don't hurt me like - " 

"_I'M NOT JAMES_!"

She blinked. 

"Did you hear what I said?"

"_I_ heard it!" a third voice cut in. "And can you _possibly_ explain to me _what_ the hell you are doing there, Severus? Weren't you supposed to meet me?"

"Lucius?" Malfoy stood in the hallway. Sizzling and very much enraged, not to mention the hair. A detached part of Severus' brain wondered why Lucius had changed back so quickly but he couldn't focus on it. Not with Lily staring at him like this.

"Severus? Snape?" Lily waited for the information to sink in. She looked from what still looked like James to Malfoy - and back to ... Snape!?! She was totally exhausted from making her _confession_, and she'd made it to _Snape_! And she'd kissed him, she'd kissed him, she ... punched him. 

Severus wasn't swept off his feet but it did hurt - a lot actually. He held his nose, not making any sound.

Lily, on the other hand, found her voice again. "Have you totally lost your mind? This is the most disgusting, foul and abusive kind of ... _thing_ I have _ever_ ... ! What makes you think you can play with people like that? Don't you have _one single_ spark of decency in you, man? You kissed me and -" 

"No - _you_ kissed _me_! I was actually trying to avoid it." Severus mumbled back, wondering why he was defending himself. It was all her fault! 

"THAT ISN'T THE POINT!"

"You could have known I'm not Potter! I thought you were so clever?"

"Oh, look who's talking! Do you really think this whole scheme is very intelligent?"

"Go and tell that to your boyfriend - oh deary me, but he _isn't_ your boyfriend. Perhaps _I_ can give him that kiss for you."

"YOU ... grow up, will you? ... I'm going to tell Dumbledore - right away!" 

"Oh, _that's_ very grown-up! Why don't you - "

"NO YOU WON'T!" Their heads jerked. They'd totally forgotten about Lucius. He'd drawn his wand and his eyes were blazing.

From this point, everything went slow motion for Severus. He saw Evans draw her wand in defence. At the same time Lucius was already shouting his spell: "OBLIVIATE!" Evans tried to block the curse, but hesitated a fracture of a second too long - "EXPELL - " The curse would hit her! She was only an armlength away from Severus - so he pulled her over to him - and Lucius' memory charm hit thin air. "TARANTALLEGRA!" Severus cried. This wouldn't usually have been his first-choice countercurse, but he was glad he came up with anything at all.

It hit Lucius full force and time returned to normal.

Lily and Severus watched the result for almost a minute. But it wasn't a pretty sight and Lily decided to end this horror. "STUPEFY!" Malfoy landed face first on the ground.

She turned to Snape who'd gotten very, very pale. Well, he'd just made Malfoy dance himself silly - that would probably get him into trouble. Not her fault - or was it? She unclenched his hand from her arm, he was still holding it tight. Perhaps she should say something - calming? 

"I think Malfoy will remember this for a long, long ... I mean, he was really going to use a memory charm on me! He's crazy! Imagine what he will do to ... when he is back on ... " Snape made a choking sound. Okay, that didn't work - but then she was in shock too. She tried again.

"Why did you ... " She pointed over to Malfoy, unable to speak it out loud. Snape had _protected_ her. 

Severus finally cleared his throat. "Don't you dare telling _anyone_ about this - or that ... kiss."

She stared at him. "What should I possibly say? 'Behold - I kissed Snape! I let myself be fooled by a bloody Slytherin!' Should I tell them that I gave my ... ," she flinched. "Now that would bring a lot of fun to my life."

Severus froze. "That wasn't your ... your first ... ?"

"OF COURSE NOT! I mean ... not like ... it was ..."

He gazed at her while she was struggling for words. He breathed deeply and when he spoke, his voice was almost unhearable. "I'm sorry you had to kiss _me_." 

Lily looked up in surprise. One streak of hair had come loose over her eyes and Snape - tucked it away behind her ear. His hand stopped in midair as if he'd just realized what he had done. And then he changed back. She saw him watching his hand - pale, with long slick fingers. He grew several inches and when he looked at her again, his eyes had already gone black. He turned on his heels - but Lily stopped him.

She was still angry, a lot, but ... "Don't be." She took the glasses from his nose and hesitated. "Now wait - was this _your_ first ..." And then she gave him just a little kiss on the cheek. "More than meets the eye. Funny." 

"..."

"Just something I have to remember." 

And with that, she walked away. Severus Snape stood there for another five minutes before he finally convinced himself that he _probably_ could move now. He stepped over Lucius, heading straight for the dungeons. His brain was still knocked out, so his smile didn't leave his face.

Author Notes:

Just in case you've been wondering why everyone keeps bumping into everyone else at the right - or conveniently wrong - time and place, what with Hogwarts being a bloody great castle and all (and oh, where are all the other occupants of said castle, by the way? Don't they have to go to the Little Wizards' every now and then during the Yule Ball?)...please keep in mind that it's a bloody great _magic_ castle, and time and space are just relative components. Furthermore, they can be bent in any shape they like, if the author says so :-)

So ... on to the Epilogues, where Space and Time are clearly stated to everyone's satisfaction!


	8. Epilogues

Author Notes:

Okay. This is the end. Followed by the end (you'll see). 

What can I say? I want to go to bed now ... No, I really want to thank everybody for their kind reviews! And I want to give yap - more chocolate! And all my belongings, but I don't own anything, because they still belong to J.K. Rowling ... so a kiss has to do. (insert kiss here) :-) 

You know how hard it is to actually - finish something? I tried to do my very best. I had to restrain myself immensely. Or you'd be looking at ten chapters' worth of epilogues now. What, you don't believe me? Just say the word ...

luv

Mi

Epilogues

__

"So smile the heavens upon this holy act 

That after-hours with sorrow chide us not."

Last Try

Great Hall, six a.m., sharp:

"What are we going to tell Dumbledore?"

"We say that _Potter's_ still in the hospital wing ... not feeling well enough to serve detention today, and ... that he'll make it up tomorrow. Easy."

"So I have to do detention twice?"

"Could be worse."

"But he's going to check with Madam Pomfrey for sure."

"And what am I to do about it? I can't know bloody everything, can I? Just don't panic, okay?"

"We have to tell Dumbledore the truth. That's the only way we can show some dignity after all."

"Forget that, Potter. I'm not going to lose one more lousy point from _my_ house because of _your_ cheesy Gryffindor pride."

"Snape? What are you doing here - as me?"

"I bet he's hiding from Malfoy. Coward."

"Sod off, Black! How do you ... "

"Uh - such ugly words from such an ugly boy. Sorry James. I just took an educated guess. And behold - I was right, obviously."

"_Obviously_ - you and Potter don't have the nerves to deal with Dumbledore."

"Oh, but you have, Greaseball. You didn't act so damn cool last night either."

"What do you - "

"Good morning, gentlemen. You are looking much better today. With the exception of your nose, James. Didn't you let Poppy fix it?"

"Err ... of course I did, but I ... broke it again."

"Hah - that's the stupidest excuse I've ever - "

"Shut up ... _Malfoy_!"

"Silence, gentlemen. Before we begin - is there anything either of you wants to tell me? No? Very well then. I think we're going to start with a little lecture about the misuse of a certain transformation potion. Not that you have anything to do with that, of course."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"You should never underestimate the acting abilities of an old man. And for your information, Master _Malfoy_ - it's 112."

Last Measure

Slytherin common room, 10 a.m., very sharp:

"Did you do it?"

"..."

"I'm talking to you, Goyle!"

"Yes ... and no."

"What's that supposed to mean, idiot?"

"I've got the book alright. It wasn't even in his trunk, it lay on his bed. But it couldn't be destroyed. I tried to burn it several times."

"Ah well, Severus' blasted spells. If I see _one more_ sweater folding itself - I'm going to rip his throat out."

"What do we do now?"

"Give it to me. I'll take care of it."

"Ahem ... can I ask a question?"

"Make it short."

"If you want to teach him a lesson, why only take this one book? We could do much more damage by beating him up or - you know, bloodshed?"

"It won't hurt enough."

"..."

"I want him to suffer much longer than it takes to do away with the physical pain of a broken arm."

"By stealing a _book_?"

"You aren't so good with psychology, are you, Goyle?"

"Sorry."

"Do you have something that is really - _really_ - precious to you?"

"..."

"Thought so. Well, Severus has this book you just snatched. 'Potions and their Masters'. It was a present from Professor Keele. She gave it to him because he sure would have such a bright future as one of them Potions weirdos blablabla. Losing it will break his little treacherous heart."

"What did he do anyway?

"That's none of your business, Goyle! He ... no-one plays me for a fool like that. Especially not one of my friends."

"Will you tell him?"

"Of course not. I'll do something he expects me to do - "

"Like beating him up?"

"You really are one-track minded. But please yourself. And after that I'm going to enjoy Severus' crying on my shoulder about his bloody book, thinking that Black and Potter must have done it - some pleasing side effect."

"That's bloody brilliant."

"Ah well, what are friends for?"

At Last

Gryffindor common room, seven p.m.:

"James, I have to ... tell you something."

"Me too."

"Really?"

"Ahm ... I'm sorry about this whole mess. I ... missed you yesterday, Lily."

"I missed you too." 

"I was wondering if you want to - "

"Yes!"

"..."

"I mean ... _I_ was wondering if _you_ wanted to. "

"Yes."

... ... 

"Did you like it?"

"Yes. I liked it a lot. Can you do it again?"

__

the end

But then again ...

Gryffindor common room, ten p.m.:

"You really thought Lucius was me?"

"Why not?"

"Oh, come on, Remus. What made you think that?"

"He ... err ... kissed me."

"..."

"Only on the cheeks really. Come on, I mean, he looked like you. That was a damn good giveaway."

"You know ... I _probably_ could have done that."

"..."

"So. Ahem. You think Malfoy's in love with you?"

"Yerss. Precisely."

"And now we have to see how we get him out of the quidditch team. Any Polyjuice left?"

***

Slytherin common room, ten p.m.:

"They didn't do it."

"Says who?"

"Professor Keele."

"Oh, come on, Severus. You believe her?"

"Of course I do!"

"She's a teacher!"

"I know."

"You really think teachers tell the truth all the time?"

"She's Head of House!"

"Of Slytherin House."

"..."

"Are you sure you looked everywhere?"

"Yes! Even under the mess that passes for Chief Havoc-Bringer Malfoy's bloody bed."

"Well ... clearly, self-folding sweaters aren't everything, are they? You really should watch out for your things."

"They broke my bird."

"Look - I'll buy you a proper watch dog. Okay - another book. Okay ... what else?"

"..." 

the end

__

(really)

Author Notes:

If you want to find out about what happened to Severus' book - please read **"Nothing's lost which can't be found if sought"**.


End file.
